Being properly hydrated is not optional and that news is not new news. Indeed, when we are dehydrated in a serious manner, performance goes out the window. The trick is to learn to race hydrated or slightly dehydrated towards the middle and end of the race. How do we do this? It takes practise and pushing the limits in training from time to time to determine what your body feels like and works like when you are consuming specific types or fluids.

Here are some basics I like to follow:

1. Any run over 10km, make sure you have a glass (250ml) of sports drink (you know my choice) before you head out the door.
2. Any run over 15km, make sure you can get some water in along the route somewhere.
3. Any run over 20km, it’s essential to take fluids along and be able to nurse yourself with constant drink along the way.
4. Don’t do a long run with a hangover. Ever. Starting that dehydrated is just bad for your body.
5. Drink to thirst.
6. Don’t down a whole bottle of drink in one go. Sloshy tummies are for dummies.
7. Re-hydrate slowly after races, not downing bottles of sugar water straight over the line.

What do they say about learning in 7`s? I`ll leave you with those 7 simple tips to training optimally hydrated. If we train better, we race better and this is an often overlooked part of your daily training. I know too many people to drink coffee all day and end up bailing from planned workouts in the afternoon because they are dehydrated to start their afternoon sessions.

Have a great week out there and remember…assume nothing. This article was brought to you by Rehidrat Sport, my personal choice in sports drink.

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Courtesy of Smashred

Because the most beautiful places in the world are out there for us to ride.

Because of the challenge.

Because it’s there and I have to ride over it, to push the limits.

What do you mean you don’t understand?

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Rapha Continental – The Movie from RAPHA on Vimeo.

For a while now, I have wanted to put this into writing. I have followed the Rapha Continental for some time now and have wanted to try and discover some similar rides in South Africa. I know they are out there but I need you to tell me where they are.

We ride the most inaccessible parts on the mountain bike on our Epic Unsupported Tour, but typically of my demanding nature, I want more.

I want to ride the backroads with a few mates or a few people who share the belief that riding your bike is special. That it’s purposeful for so much more than riding fast. I don’t care if it takes 8 hours for a round trip, I want to ride the secret epic roads of South Africa. I want to document it and share it with the other 500 000 cyclists in South Africa. I want to make weekends of it and push the limits.

Who has a secret road for me? I want to come and ride it with you.

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Man I really enjoyed this video. Especially after a few nights in hotels working with BoE Private Clients to raise the bar in awareness for Pure Planet Racing with some of their top clients in Johannesburg and Durban. I slept very well the first night and the body felt great on a long run the next morning. So much so that I felt I could and should get out for a second run yesterday afternoon. The opportunity to run 2 cities in 1 day was just too much fun for my geeky sports orientated brain to avoid.

Last night, however, I slept particularly badly. A combination of having a few glasses of particularly good Sauvignon Blanc and a 4:15am wake up call had me tossing and turning. Because of the way I feel today, there is no way I could go out and train. I have to skip a session I had planned this afternoon because it would be a waste and my weekend would go out the window. I would be compromising a week of good training rather than getting in a session where I would be faffing and just getting it done.

When in doubt, leave it out, as Andrew Maclean likes to say.

I have made an enquiry with Zeo to see if their sleep coach device is available here in South Africa.

But back to “feel”. I am a numbers junkie at the best of times and at other times, I really don’t want to see the numbers at all. Some days I will analyze the entire ride on the Powertap vs Heart Rate vs Altitude gains, etc. Other days, I leave the Garmin at home for a forest run where the point really is to get purposefully lost and lie under a tree for a while, mid run.

For me, even when riding with the Garmin, I am always trying to be aware of what certain intensities feel like, what 350watts on a 10minute climb feels like in the legs, the lungs, in the mind especially, the emotions that happen around minute 4 when it seems like it will never end. I believe “feel” is one of the major things lost on the amateur guys. They are so obsessed with the numbers that they forget what the number/goal/interval/intensity feels like. When their devices fail (and they do fail from time to time) they are left in the dark and cannot get the combination right and bomb out badly.

As the weekend is approaching, I would like to urge you to give “feel” a go this weekend. Tape up a part of your device and go on feel, referencing it only once or twice in your workout. Work with the body, talk to it (ok, yes, I am mad) and listen to what it’s telling you about how it feels when you push it in a certain way.

Right now though, I am going to feel my way through a cup of coffee and the war on admin continues…

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I am in a phase of writing about cycling, I realise. I am finding something quite pure about riding my bike in the last while. The simplicity and the lessons in there. Perhaps it is the lessons. Just today, I sat with a long lost friend, discussing life and the immense challenge he faced a year or five ago, thrown in the deep end in a position he knew very little about.

It was tough. Monstrously tough. He drew back on the long rides, the long runs, the short runs when they sucked, and the lessons learned in all his time spent committed to his cause, to perfecting the journey. He applied the lessons to the tasks at hand and proclaimed to me that indeed, sport is the rulebook for life. It’s all interlaced.

Team Sky – 2010 Paris-Roubaix Recon from Josh Caffrey on Vimeo.

Still want to ride cobbles?

So back to the last few articles, about riding, about the work done, about the lessons learned and taking the lessons forward to make good decisions in a compound manner.

Back to the ways in which we learn to fight for a better life, so that we can move with more agility, with more grace, with power versus force, with less haste and more speed. Few races draw the attention of the world as much as Roubaix. There are many reasons for it and I won’t delve into those today. Few riders that the world has ever seen display all the things I have been talking about quite like our Spartacus. Please enjoy his grace, his power, his speed.

Fabian Cancellara wins Paris-Roubaix [HD] from markus|neuert ★ cyclefilm|com on Vimeo.

If you are looking for someone to copy, look no further.

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I am a big fan of heroes, but I am fantatical about the sports which are littered with fallen heroes. The sports I love are filled with guys like Luc van Lierde, Marco Pantani & Michael Phelps. This hurts me because I realise the sports I love reward workload and effort and these are two elements I am extremely passionate about. I am lucky enough to spend time with some of the top guys in a variety of sports and I KNOW the work that goes into being the best. Into being better than your better.

I know that at the top of each of these sports, there are 15-20 guys who can win at race at any given time of the season.

I know that they all do more or less the same workload in terms of volume. It’s much bigger than you and I care to admit. MUCH.

I have done only a few weeks in my life where my volume equaled what these guys are pushing week in, week out, month in, month out. Guys like James Cunnama, Conrad Stoltz, Stuart O’Grady, Ryan Sandes. These are people I have spent time with. They do it week in, week out. Their volumes kill me because I am not adapted to deal with it. I have zero doubt in my mind that they are doing it clean, so why the guys who give up and take the easier route.

That’s just it, the easier route.

In some sports, I think the problems are so wide spread that we end up with guys who have this outlook. That it’s not possible. I realise he is a contentious issue but I truly love this video I had up a while ago. Here is the repeat…

“Who says?”

Who says you can’t take your bike outside this weekend and ride 40km, which is more than you have ridden in the last 10 years of your life?

Who says you can’t train to run a 50km trail run at the end of the year?

Who?

Who says you are never going to be enough at anything you ever do? Who in their right minds listens to stuff like that when you have the opportunity to watch stuff like this?

How do you make the decision to say “I quit, I cannot do anymore”? Where are your heroes to reference when times get tough? Who do you reference when times get tough, to find your inspiration? What is considered “normal” for you when it comes to digging deep? Where are your heroes and what do they do? Here are some of my heroes and they are an apt description for why I choose to live this crazy life of pushing boundaries and limits and fatigue and and and…

My heroes are going far beyond what is “required”. I’m pushed by them and they make me believe that anything I want could be mine with enough time and pressure…

Where are your heroes?

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It’s right there, you can taste it after the long road filled with mega sacrifice, filled with moments of your significant other giving you “the look” and feeling like the personification of this video. Finally, there is it. You have earned this, you have demanded that it come throughout the day, willed yourself through thick and thin and truly gone above and beyond just to get here. Now give it to me! You want to be filled over the brim and explode into a happiness that lasts for years.

And then it’s over and you`re left with this sinking feeling that you have been cheated out of something. The line, it wasn’t big enough. It didn’t “fill” you. It left you feeling like you did it all for nothing, that what’s left of your life makes no sense at all. You walk like a man beaten by a thousand bamboo rods, your mind cannot focus on anything but this sinking sensation that LIFE has given you lemons when you asked for pork belly.

I have been there. I have seen the ugly inside of the pit of your stomach which is raging like an itchy scab on your elbow. I stepped back from racing for a very long time before I discovered that indeed there were much bigger moments out there within this beautiful journey that we undertake. Moments where I never feel short changed. There are no lines in the road and no plan set out in these moments. I have no expectation that I will feel fulfilled in these moments. All I have is the expectancy of being filled to the brim with life, leaving me hungry for more. It’s the best hunger in the world, one I never tire of and one that its best served on a road in the middle of nowhere with the sun in my neck and my gearing in the big ring. It looks something like this…

It’s where the joy lives, it’s where it breathes and manifests the positive attributes of what we do into every piece of the puzzle that puts together the perfect picture of the life you are struggling for. It’s where you will find the answers that elude you in your manic life. It’s where you will discover the truest, rawest version of yourself. It’s where there is no grey, only colors so radiant that they fill your eyes to the brim with tears of love for the amazing gift you were given at birth to be able to move in the direction you choose. That by the simple action of moving your body forward, you are paying homage to the most special ability of all, the choice to affect. To choose your direction, to make the decision to move your entire being in the direction which you want to. It’s where it all starts.

Choices. Thanks dad. Thanks for telling me over and over and over again that it’s all about choices. Sometimes, it’s the simplest choice that affects so much. So move with economy and make your choices count. Don’t count on a line in the road. Instead, count on yourself.

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Why do we love riding bikes so much? What is the attraction, and why on earth does it feel so much better than playing golf?

Is it the element of self driven speed? Which other sport propels you forward as fast on your own power? I cannot think of too many mainstream sports, apart from skiing downhill super mega ultra fast, that propel you as fast.

Is it the element of adventure, especially when it comes to mountain biking? The idea of being so close to nature that at times, you bury you nose right into the soft sand (much to the delight of those around you). The idea of exploration into “wild” areas. That is a very westernized idea, because for many societies, they live that close to nature, ALL the time.

Is it the element of danger? There is something which releases when I am bombing down a descent at 60km/h, especially on the mountain bike. That element of overcoming for survival, because let’s face it, you come off at that speed and you may end up taking a perma-nap.

Is it the camaraderie that is experienced on group rides? Belonging to something bigger than yourself?

Whatever your reasons, we love cycling because it’s easy, simple and gets your quite far out. For me, I love everything about cycling. The gear, the adventure, the danger, the solitude, the speed, the exploration and at times, the love in a group of cyclists.

+++

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I had lunch today with a particularly gifted guy. Not only is he an unbelievable mountain biker, but he can write far better than this guy. He is adventurous, wild and very calculating. But the fact that I like most about him, is that he gets it. Plain & simple.

“It” is course, can be summed up for me as follows:

1. Sport for us is a lifestyle. It’s an essential part of our lives.
2. It will never be our profession.
3. We love pushing our bodies as far as possible to see how much we can cope with.
4. There has to be adventure involved. Without adventure, men starve.
5. We LOVE it.

For him it’s about being out there, pushing the limits, often with his brother, in situations which make him a better guy. Admirable that he is willing to put himself into the dark bucket of “How am I going to get out of here” but smart in that he surrounds himself with people he really trusts to be in that situation with. It’s not about one thing, but about participation, being in the mix with the dudes, the guys, the manne and he knows it never gets easier as you get faster, even though he is really really fast.

We were chatting about where we want our sports experiences to go and there was a mutual agreement that it’s the participation, the masses and especially the back markers that inspire us more than the front guys. We have both successfully and through many years of hard work come from the back to the front of races. When I started at the back of triathlons, the front guys were everything I wanted to be. As I am nearing the front, I have to say that the inverse has happened. I have various reasons for this.

1. The gains are smaller and require MUCH more work.
2. There is very little gear left that I don’t have, that doesn’t cost more than my car.
3. To get better, I have to be far more organized, planned, rigorous and meticulous about so many more things. At times, it is exhausting.

I am a true believer in the inspiration of the first timer, the twice a week runner who commits to running their first half marathon and the guy who cant swim more than 50m who enters a half ironman race, throwing caution to the wind and slamming their fists against the table and saying “I WILL DO THIS”. Those are my heroes.

The blogosphere has created this world where there are thousands of pages, no, that would be millions of pages of people who write to boost their own ego’s. Twitter, for me, is about 90% self massage of the ego. I am completely over Facebook at this point as I am tired of seeing how “happy” everyone proclaims to be, but when I see the same people in person their lives are falling apart. Rather be open and honest and contribute something beyond the blob, as I am coining it. Write something beyond a cheesy quote or telling the world (lying) about how fabulous everything is. Share a useful link that inspired you. Suggest an action which contributes.

Beyond the blob relates to all our lives. This crazy ego massage where we are seeking the approval of others by spreading a message that is not necessarily true is the shortest empty cul de sac I can think of. Surely that is the short term outlook on a long term problem? I could totally be missing my seat here but there is something truly healing about humbly sharing something that was given to you today, onwards, with the rest of the world.

For the rest of the week, move beyond the blob. Use your Facebook and Twitter accounts, your emails and sms’s, blackberry messenger and skype platforms to share information which made a change in your week. Don’t be the guy who gives a blind man a set of binoculars, be the guy who gives the blind man a guide dog, something that could change someone’s life forever. It could totally happen to you, if you just take the chance to share.

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So the Katana arrived a few weeks ago and we are seemingly ready to get it built up. After 4 weeks of rest and a two week transition period I am ready to get back onto the road for long rides and ready to start working my indoor trainer again. So it rolls.

I had the chance to take a while to think about how I was going to build this bike and what I wanted to put on it, what worked previously for me and what Jeroen Swart recommended I ride in future. All in all, it’s a compromise between speed, comfort and economy.

The frame is without a doubt the most aero I have ever owned. Tick. I have ridden Campagnolo, Shimano and Sram in the past and my favorite without a doubt, was the Sram. I am going to make some key adaptions to the Sram this time and see how that works out.

I am going to start with the Force Groupset. Strong, reliable and about half the price of the Sram Red. Because it’s a TT groupset, the gear shifters are the same as the Red. I already have a Red cassette and chain at home, so that’s easy. I am planning to get some these radical Berner adaption rear derailleur wheels for Hawaii. Lower friction on the chain and could probably get them in red to match the frame.

It’s not all standard and I was ordered to move down to 172.5mm cranks when I had the proper fitting with Jeroen Swart. I was on 175mm before and his thought process goes that the shorter cranks help with the crunch of the hip flexor and the dead spot at the top of the pedal stroke. I believe him. He also advised me to move onto Rotor Rings but I wanted to go one further with this bike and get one of these:

Pretty, no? Very durable, very stiff and just a tad sexy methinks. Very excited about these. The extra punt on the long downhills in Hawaii should be a nice gain from the 56 tooth power on the downstroke of the bike. I toyed with the idea of going up to 54 teeth but I am concerned about the effect it might have on the run.

Saddles are such a personal journey. Hate some, love some. I love the Selle Italia SLR family, and in particular, the T1. I have used it for 3 years now without a single glitch. It’s got the Barbara Streisand nose, strong rails and non-slip centre for wet tri shorts.

Aerobars are another contentious issue. Recently I discovered the Uberhund bars and I have to admit I was more than a little excited when I saw this…

All smiles. They were more comfortable in the aero position than any other aerobar I ever tried. I was initially going with another bar for riding comfort out of the aerobars but I will just have to find a way to make them more comfortable to ride up hill. Their comfort in the aero position is just too good to give up.

I will still be on my Speedplay pedals, my Zipp wheels and my Continental Competition Tubbies.

So those are all the pretty things going on the Ceepo Katana that’s now just waiting to be ridden. Not going to lie to you, I am super excited.

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